Heroes to 'Escape from the Negative Zone'

The X-Men and Steve Rogers are to join forces in the 'Escape from the Negative Zone' crossover.

Written by James Asmus, the story will see the team of mutants and the former Captain America battling to free themselves from the Marvel Universe's anti-matter counterpart.

The story will begin in March in Uncanny X-Men Annual #3, continuing in Steve Rogers: Super Solider Annual #1 and concluding in Namor: The First Mutant Annual #1. It sees a group of X-Men pulled into the Negative Zone and Rogers's attempt to rescues them.

"The main characters that get pulled in are all of the alpha dogs who refuse to listen to orders," Asmus told CBR. "Cyclops, Namor, Hope and Doctor Nemesis are the ones that get pulled into the main narrative. That's fun, because all of them are equally strong-headed and convinced that they're constantly right.

"So to have a team purely composed of people who would rather be leading than following creates an interesting dynamic, especially for Scott who's used to leading the way right now. He's stuck with people who are constantly questioning his orders. Not that there aren't people who disagree with him, but he doesn't have anyone to turn to who will just pick up on what he thinks needs to be done.

"Basically, the X-Men become kind of the bait and the pawns for the powers ruling the Negative Zone to get attention, respect and revenge. That sort of hostage situation is what pulls in Steve Rogers. What happens after that doesn't go the way anyone planned."